Mass. orders quarantine to limit invasive insect

BOSTON — The state is ordering a quarantine throughout Berkshire County in western Massachusetts to limit movement of wood and try to contain an invasive beetle that's killed millions of ash trees nationwide.

BOSTON — The state is ordering a quarantine throughout Berkshire County in western Massachusetts to limit movement of wood and try to contain an invasive beetle that's killed millions of ash trees nationwide.

The emerald ash borer was found last summer in trees in Dalton, a few miles from the New York border. State officials have since tried to determine how to best limit damage from the insect, including holding public hearings.

Some people pushed for as tiny a quarantine area as possible. Various wood businesses advocated a state-wide quarantine, to allow them to freely move products throughout Massachusetts.

State officials decided on the county-wide quarantine, which takes effect March 1.

No hardwood firewood, ash nursery stock or untreated ash lumber will be permitted to move outside the county, which borders New York, Vermont and Connecticut.